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Assessing the Food Safety Attitudes and Awareness of Managers of School Feeding Programmes in Mpumalanga, South Africa

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Abstract

The managers of school feeding programmes are responsible for ensuring the safety of the food which is provided to schoolchildren, but very few studies have been conducted on the food safety knowledge and awareness of these managers. The objective of this study is to evaluate the food safety attitudes and awareness of managers of the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) in schools in Mpumalanga, a province of South Africa. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted in which questionnaires were used to collect data from 300 NSNP food service managers. The majority of schools offering NSNP meals were located in informal settlements and most were found to lack basic resources such as electricity (power supplies to the food preparation facility) and potable tap water in their kitchens. No school was found to have implemented the hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) programme, and only a few staff had received food safety training. Food safety implementation is worst in informal schools in rural areas due to limited resources and infrastructure. The NSNP food service managers in some schools—especially those located in rural settlements—were found to have little knowledge and awareness of HACCP. These results indicate an urgent need to provide NSNP managers with food safety training and resources (potable water supplies, electricity, dedicated food preparation facilities), particularly in schools in rural settlements.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the Department of Research at the University of South Africa for providing the funds required for this study.

Author’s Contributions

FTT and JJS conceived the study and wrote the final manuscript. Data collection was performed by JJS.

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  1. Department of Life and Consumer Sciences, University of South Africa, Cnr Christiaan de Wet Road and Pioneer Avenue, Florida, Roodepoort, 1710, South Africa

    J. J. Sibanyoni & F. T. Tabit

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Sibanyoni, J.J., Tabit, F.T. Assessing the Food Safety Attitudes and Awareness of Managers of School Feeding Programmes in Mpumalanga, South Africa. J Community Health 42, 664–673 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-016-0303-6

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